Our very first photo safari 12 years ago had taken us to Tanzania. We had visited Ngorongoro Crater and Klein's Camp. This time we wanted to retrace some of the steps and had chosen Tarangire NP south of Arusha to start this trip.
On our first day in Tarangire NP we found a large lion family - mother, teenage son, two daughters and two young ones. All were peacefully resting in the shade of a tree.
They were curious when we arrived. I took pictures, our driver was proud that he had found them all by himself, no other car was around, and he positioned the car for good photos.
the young male
I took more pictures, he repositioned the car again, I took some more pictures ... and when he wanted to move further, the tires screeched, turning in the soft sand and we were stuck!
Discussing proceedings ...
The lions found the goings-on in our car interesting, watched and waited. And got up, each one tested their strength and sharpened their claws on a tree nearby.
And waited....
And so did we - our guide tried to radio for assistance but it seemed we were out of reach in low ground ... radio silence. We were preparing for a long wait confined to the car. Lions sometimes select a shady place in the morning where they stay all day to wait out the hot weather. We had water and food, no bathroom though.
I was not worried, lions usually don't attack people in cars ... but then, you never know. What if they found out we were like sitting ducks? We had no gun, we could not get at the shovel because the lion were only 10 m away - they might be chased off, but then maybe not, and they might find we were easy game.
... still there ...
... don't do it ....
... nice paws ...
One and a half hours and hundreds of pictures later, having extensively looked at each other, appraised each others beauty or suitability for a meal, we saw a car on the horizon and our guide managed to make radio contact. They had a tow cable on board!
The lions saw them too, decided the place was becoming too crowded, gave up the wait and withdrew so that we could connect our car to the cable and be pulled out.
Otherwise, this blog would have ended here and now.
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